PAPER 1 - SOCIAL INFLUENCE - social change

Question 1

what is meant by social change?

Answer 1

when a society as a whole adopts a new belief or way of behaving which becomes widely accepted as the norm
- can involve social progress & social revolution

Question 2

what is an example of social progress?

Answer 2

introduction of anit-discrimminatory laws

Question 3

what is an example of social revolution?

Answer 3

removal of a tyrannical regime

Question 4

what 6 ways can minority influence social change?

Answer 4

• creating attention
• cognitive conflict
• consistency
• commitment and augmentation
• snowball effect
• dissociation model

Question 5

what is ‘creating attention’?

Answer 5

deviant minority draws attention to issues that may be ignored by the majority

Question 6

what is ‘cognitive conflict’?

Answer 6

• minority creates conflict between what majority and minority group believe
• we are motivated to reduce conflict - makes majority think about issue

Question 7

what is ‘consistency’?

Answer 7

minorities are more influential when bringing about social change when they express arguments over time

Question 8

what is ‘commitment and augmentation’?

Answer 8

• if minority is seen as wiling to suffer for their views, they seem more committed - taken more seriously
• through sacrifice, impact increases (augmented)

Question 9

what is the ‘snowball effect’?

Answer 9

initially has small effect but then spreads more widely as more people consider the issues until ‘tipping point’ is reached

Question 10

what is the ‘dissociation model’?

Answer 10

• social forgetting
• majority dont like to associate with deviant minority
• majority influenced OVER TIME - minority ideas become assimilated with viewpoint
• content & original source become dissociated

Question 11

which studies support normative social influence?

Answer 11

Nolan et al
Goldstein et al

Question 12

what was the study by Nolan et al?

Answer 12

• placed hangers on doors of residents once a week
• carried 1 of 4 messages, 1 being that majority of neighbors regularly tried to conserve energy
• control group - door hanger encouraged energy conservation
• only group norm condition led to decrease in residents’ energy usage

Question 13

what was the study by Goldstein?

Answer 13

• attempted to change hotel guest behaviour to reuse towels
• 4 door hangers, 1 said ‘join fellow citizens in helping to save the environment’
• message increased towel reusage by an average of 34%

Question 14

what are social norm interventions?

Answer 14

-the correction of misperceptions between perceived and actual norms
- make people aware of risky behaviour
- changes behaviour to conform to actual group norm rather than misperception

Question 15

what are the limitations of social change?

Answer 15

• limitations of social norms approach
• being perceived as ‘deviant’ limits influence of minorities
• social norms and the ‘boomerang effect’

Question 16

what are the limitations of the social norms approach?

Answer 16

• social norms interventions have shown positive results
• not all social norms have led to social change
• study tried to decrease alcohol consumption on 14 different college sites
• students in social norms condition didnt show lower perception of student drinking, also didnt report lower alcohol consumption

Question 17

how does being perceived as ‘deviant’ limit the influence of minority?

Answer 17

• majority may avoid aligning with minority because they dont want to be seen as deviant
• makes minority have little impact - majority focuses on source of message rather than message itself
• minority faces a double challenge